Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535806
40 S U M M E R 2 0 2 5 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y M E E T T H E W I N N E R S Masters of the Air is an incredible story of the 100th Bombardment Group and the numerous dangerous missions they led and the brotherhood that formed because of it. While some war movies and shows may come across as a little too "Hollywood," Masters of the Air does an amazing job of bringing you into this world and caring for each and every one of the brave fighters on screen. The fight scenes portrayed as they would've been during the time, the somber scenes when a fellow brother didn't make it home, and the dialogue between the pilots and military personnel maintain as much historical accuracy as possible, contributing to the series' success. I had the absolute pleasure and honor of interviewing the sound team, production sound mixer Tim Fraser, scoring mixer Thor Fienberg, ADR mixer Sean Moher, Foley mixer Randy K. Singer CAS, and re-recording mixers Michael Minkler CAS, Duncan McRae, and Shane Stoneback. After speaking with them, it was clear why the program was sonically spectacular and why their work was so highly recognized. Each person put so much love and care into this show—not only to make it as good as it could be—but to honor the lives of the fighters' stories they were telling. [Due to scheduling challenges, Shane Stoneback was not available at the time of the interview.] How did the opportunity to work on Masters of the Air come about? Tim Fraser: My involvement in Masters of the Air was initiated by James Smith, the line producer. I had worked with him on pickups for World War Z. These turned out to be not only a lot of interior plane footage, but also the "Welsh" strand. This was really the last third of the film after they decided to go to Cardiff. I had a Zoom call over the holiday period with [director] Cary Fukunaga and [UPM] David Coatsworth. I then did much research on the B-17 and its system of communications. Cary was great as he said what he wanted and communicated it to us very well. The project for capturing the shooting sound lasted nearly a year, starting in March and continuing until January. Thor Fienberg: I manage Blake Neely's studio, who is the composer on Masters of the Air. I've been working with him for nine years. He has a recording room at a studio and from when I was just an assistant at the studio, I started to record NON-THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES OR LIMITED SERIES MASTERS OF THE AIR S1 Ep. 5 Part Five b y B r a n d o n S c h u s t e r C A S